THOROUGHBRED RACING : Pistols And Roses Faces a Tougher Test in Today’s Fountain of Youth

A.P. Indy cost $2.9 million. Pistols And Roses cost a reported $25,000.

There are different routes to the Kentucky Derby and big bucks don’t assure a horseman of the trip. While A.P. Indy, the Hollywood Futurity winner, remains in California, awaiting his first 1992 race in the San Rafael at Santa Anita a week from today, Pistols And Roses, the bargain-basement purchase, faces 10 opponents today at Gulfstream Park in the $200,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes, which has been a fairly accurate barometer for Kentucky Derby horses.

Trainer Happy Alter, who bred Pistols And Roses with a mating of Darn That Alarm, the 1984 Fountain of Youth winner, and To Be Continued, has not had a happy winter, watching the horse he practically gave away become the star pro tem of the Florida season.

The day after George Willis, a Ft. Lauderdale insurance man, bought the unraced Pistols And Roses and turned him over to trainer George Gianos, the gray colt underwent throat surgery, similar to the operation Alysheba had a couple of months before he won the Kentucky Derby in 1987.

The first time Gianos ran Pistols And Roses, in late September at Calder, the horse could have been claimed for $50,000. He won the race at 4-1, the start of a record that stands at five victories, a second and a third in seven starts, with purses of $395,960.

“I thought he would be a nice horse,” Gianos said, “but nobody had the idea that he was going to be that type of horse when we bought him. The vet (who did the surgery) told us that we took a risk buying him.”

Pistols And Roses will be making his first start since winning the $300,000 Flamingo at Hialeah about seven weeks ago. The Flamingo and the Florida Derby, which will be run at Gulfstream on March 14, were once major preps for the Kentucky Derby, but because racing dates have changed, the Hialeah race hasn’t counted that much in recent years. Pistols And Roses will face a better field today than he did in the Flamingo.

Unbridled and Strike The Gold didn’t win the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth, but they still used the race as part of the foundation that led to Kentucky Derby victories the last two years.

Gulfstream’s track has been kind to speed horses lately, and Pistols And Roses is that type of horse. There is plenty of other speed to contend with today, however, including Vying Victor, who led all the way at the same distance in a three-length victory at Santa Anita in the Santa Catalina Stakes three weeks ago.

Goldwater, the lesser half of the Wayne Lukas-trained entry, also likes to run on the front end and he scored a two-turn victory at Gulfstream recently. Goldwater’s stablemate, Dance Floor, lost a stretch duel by a neck to A.P. Indy in the Hollywood Futurity and despite making his first start in two months he will carry 122 pounds, three more than Pistols And Roses, under conditions that weigh horses based on their records in important races.

Others running are Tiger Tiger, Sir Pinder, Truestcolors, Seahawk Gold, Never Wavering, Careful Gesture and Surely Six. Dance Floor drew the inside, and Pistols And Roses has the No. 10 post.

Seahawk Gold comes to Gulfstream after running second to Casual Lies in the El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows. Those two 3-year-olds have been even better bargains than Pistols And Roses. Casual Lies was a $7,500 yearling and Seahawk Gold was bought for $10,000.

The California invasion of Gulfstream continues Sunday when Brought To Mind carries high weight of 120 pounds against 11 rivals in the $200,000 Rampart Handicap.

Brought To Mind, who won three consecutive stakes last summer at Hollywood Park, ran third at 48-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs in November. She will be ridden by Pat Valenzuela. Charon and Fit For A Queen, who ran first and fifth, respectively, in last year’s Rampart, are next in the weights at 119 pounds apiece.

Ron McAnally, who trains Brought To Mind, has already won one of Gulfstream’s most important races, the Donn Handicap, with Sea Cadet, and he plans to run the 4-year-old colt there again March 7 in the $300,000 Gulfstream Handicap.

Joe McAnally, the trainer’s younger brother, died Friday after a battle with lung cancer. Joe McAnally, 54, was instrumental in starting a health, welfare and pension program for horsemen in California 18 years ago. A memorial service will be held at Forest Lawn at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Another of Joe McAnally’s brothers, Bob, is secretary-treasurer locally for the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Assn.

Horse Racing Notes

Laffit Pincay rode four winners at Santa Anita on Friday, including Irish Empire in the feature. Irish Empire had been winless in five starts, going back to last August. . . . The Buena Vista Handicap, a mile on the grass, has been split into nine-horse divisions Sunday. In the opening half, Crystal Gazing, seeking her first win in the United States, carries high weight of 120 pounds, which is five to seven pounds more than the others. The rest of the field includes Just Released, Gold Fleece, Agirlfromars, Elegance, Masake, Southern Tradition, Daring Drone and Danzante.

In the tougher second division, Exchange, with Pincay riding, is the high weight at 120 pounds. Others entered are Silver Chateau, Island Jamboree, Reluctant Guest, Remarkably Easy, Re Toss, Quilma, Appealing Missy and Sunset Partner. Exchange, who was claimed by trainer Bill Spawr for $50,000 has won five in a row and two on dirt at the meet, the El Encino and the La Canada Stakes. . . . The Tight Spot-Itallgreektome rivalry could resume in the Arcadia Handicap on March 7, the same day as the Santa Anita Handicap. . . . Hollywood Park apparently will introduce new post times for the season that starts April 29: weekdays at 2:30 p.m., Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m.

Snappy Landing, a 60-1 shot who ran third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, makes his debut as a 3-year-old today at Aqueduct in an allowance. race. Snappy Landing had only beaten maidens and run but three times before the Breeders’ Cup. . . . Trainer Nick Zito, winner of the Kentucky Derby last year and ninth at Churchill Downs with Thirty Six Red the year before, runs his best 3-year-old, Splinter Red, in a race on the Fountain of Youth undercard at Gulfstream today. Splinter Red is a son of Woodman, who sired Hansel, last year’s Preakness and Belmont winner. Splinter Red was originally trained by Pete Anderson.